This invention relates to a process of administering a pet food composition to prevent obesity in companion animals, such as cats and dogs. More particularly, the invention relates to a process for limiting weight gain in cats. The invention is further directed to a process for decreasing the postprandial blood glucose and insulin response in cats to promote satiety and a voluntary decrease in food intake.
Obesity is a significant health concern in companion animals. Veterinary care professionals have reported that approximately 20-40% of the pets in their care are overweight. These animals bear a greater risk for health problems associated with the respiratory, cardiovascular, and skeletal systems. More particularly, obese feline patients have demonstrated greater susceptibility to diseases such as diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, ligament injuries, perineal dermatitis, cardiomyopathy, and hepatic lipidosis. Accordingly, new technologies meeting the health needs of obese feline patients are in high demand by pet owners and veterinarians alike.
The causes of feline obesity include sedentary lifestyle and confinement indoors, as well as improper nutrition, genetic predisposition, and hormonal disorders such as thyroid and pituitary gland dysfunction. Moreover, spayed and neutered cats often exhibit a decrease in their physical activity and metabolism and therefore, have a greater tendency to gain weight.
An effective weight loss regimen for cats includes a two-tiered approach involving increasing the amount of exercise the animal undergoes, while also decreasing the amount of calories ingested by the animal. It has been suggested that pet owners can increase their cat""s daily exercise through harnessed walks, or several periods of play with a favorite toy. However, the challenge in combating feline obesity is providing a diet that fulfills the feline patient""s nutritional requirements, while still lowering the animal""s caloric intake and promoting satiety.
In an attempt to meet this challenge, pet owners are often faced with a choice between limiting their pet""s food intake by restricting the amount of food made available to the pet, or providing the pet with a dietary formulation that contains less of those ingredients that have been shown to promote obesity. Given these choices, some prefer to accept the fact that their pets will either become or remain overweight. Unfortunately, as is the case with humans, excess body fat can have serious health implications.
Current nutritional recommendations for treatment of obesity in companion animals include the consumption of diets high in fiber to dilute the caloric content thereof. However, high fiber diets are often associated with several undesirable side effects that include decreased palatability of food, improper mineral balance, decreased food digestibility, increased stool volume, constipation and/or increased frequency of defecation, and poor skin and hair coat. Unfortunately, although high fiber diets have been available for many years, the prevalence of obesity in companion animals has continued to increase.
In addition, impaired glucose metabolism and hyperinsulinemia, together with abnormal blood glucose and insulin responses, have been associated with obesity in companion animals, including overweight cats. In general, when high blood glucose levels are maintained, the body can use the extra glucose to produce fats. Storage of these fats contributes to weight gain. By enhancing fat synthesis, this metabolic alteration can lead to continued weight gain and further the progression of obesity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,258 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/268,919 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,378 and Ser. No. 09/507,066 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,708, which are incorporated herein by reference, describe feeding diets to companion animals that contain a carbohydrate source other than rice as effective for controlling the postprandial glycemic and insulin response. These references teach that by counteracting the effects of impaired glucose metabolism and hyperinsulinemia, such a diet can help lessen the progression of obesity. However, the preceding references do not teach a diet containing a carbohydrate source that assists in weight management in cats.
U.S. Ser. No. 09/609,622, which has been incorporated herein by reference, teaches a process for promoting weight loss in a mammal by feeding a composition that contains a source of carbohydrates selected from a low glycemic index grain, such as sorghum, barley, corn, and blends thereof. This reference further teaches that reducing starch levels and/or selecting sources of carbohydrates having low glycemic indices improves glucose metabolism, resulting in fewer abrupt rises and drops in blood glucose levels. As a result, the individual feels satiated more often, consumes less food, and loses weight.
It would be desirable to be able to improve body composition in obese feline animals by decreasing their caloric intake. It would also be desirable to be able to maintain favorable body composition, in even seemingly healthy cats with no overt symptoms, to prevent the onset of obesity in those animals that have a tendency to become obese. Accordingly, there is a need in the present art to develop alternative nutritional means to prevent obesity in cats.
The present invention meets that need by providing a process of administering a pet food composition to limit weight gain in a cat. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a process is provided for limiting weight gain in a cat comprising the step of feeding the cat a pet food composition comprising a source of protein, a source of fat, and a source of carbohydrates from a grain source that excludes rice. It has been found that a pet food composition that employs as the carbohydrate source a low glycemic index grain, which is selected from the group consisting of corn, sorghum, barley, oats, and blends thereof, when fed to a cat, has the effect of decreasing the postprandial blood glucose and insulin response of the cat as compared to diets using rice as the primary carbohydrate source. Preferably, the grain source has a glycemic index that is less than rice.
Reducing starch levels and/or selecting sources of carbohydrates/starches having low glycemic indicies improves glucose metabolism in cats. Improved glucose metabolism results in fewer abrupt rises and drops in blood glucose levels. Accordingly, feeding the pet food composition of the present invention ad libitum, promotes satiety in the cat. This effect promotes a voluntary decrease in food intake resulting in less weight gain than if the cat had been fed a diet that employs or includes rice or other high glycemic index starch as the carbohydrate source. This effect is even more pronounced when the composition is fed to male cats.
Where the low glycemic index grain source is a blend of corn and sorghum, it is preferred that these starch sources be present in the composition in a weight ratio from between about 1:5 to about 5:1, more preferably from about 1:3 to about 3:1, and most preferably about 1:1. Where the low glycemic index grain source is a blend of corn, sorghum, and barley, or corn, sorghum, and oats, it is preferred that these starch sources be present in the composition in a weight ratio of from between about 1:1:5 to about 1:5:1 to about 5:1:1, more preferably from about 1:1:3 to about 1:3:1 to about 3:1:1, and most preferably from about 1:1:1, respectively.
The composition can comprise from about 25 to about 45% crude protein, from about 4 to about 30% fat, from about 2 to about 20% total dietary fiber, and a source of carbohydrates that excludes rice, but includes a low glycemic index grain source such as corn, sorghum, barley, oats, and blends thereof. Typically, the carbohydrate sources in the composition of the present invention will make up from about 35 to about 60 weight percent of the composition.
The pet food composition may further comprise from about 1 to about 11 weight percent of supplemental total dietary fiber of fermentable fibers that have an organic matter disappearance of 15 to 60 weight percent when fermented by fecal bacteria for a 24 hour period.
Accordingly, it is a feature of the present invention to provide a composition and process of administering it to limit weight gain in cats. This, and other features and advantages of the present invention, will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.